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The African Children's Choir is a large choir composed of children ages 7 to 12 from several African nations.[ citation needed ] Since its inception, the choir has included children from Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Nigeria, and Ghana.[ citation needed ] Many of the children have lost one or both parents to AIDS and other poverty-related diseases, and all of them are victims of extreme poverty.[ citation needed ] The choir is a Christian organization and one of its principles is "instilling Christian principles through teaching and leading by example."[ citation needed ]
The choir was founded in 1984 by Ray Barnett when he was traveling in war-torn Uganda and gave a small boy a ride from his destroyed home to a safer village.[ citation needed ] During their journey, the child did what he knew how to do best – he sang.[ citation needed ] That simple song of dignity and hope became the catalyst for a program that has changed the lives of thousands of children.[ citation needed ] From there, the African Children's Choir was born. Rallying support from the west, Barnett conducted the first tour, in 1984.[ citation needed ] As the organization grew so did the needs of the children.[ citation needed ] The choir began selecting Kenyan children in 1990.[ citation needed ] By 2002, the first South African choir toured in North America.[ citation needed ] Music for Life has now facilitated over forty tours through the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.[ citation needed ] The choir serves as the main fundraising branch for its parent organization, Music For Life Institute, with proceeds from the choir's work used to fund Christian education and relief efforts for African children affected by poverty and disease.[ citation needed ]
The choir has released a number of albums and DVDs over the years, and has performed at major events and venues around the world.[ citation needed ] The choir has appeared at the British House of Commons and the Pentagon, at some of the world's most prestigious halls, including the Royal Albert Hall, the London Palladium, the International Club of Berlin and the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, Belgium. They also performed with Christian music legend, Bill Gaither, in his Gaither Homecoming series.[ citation needed ]
In 2005, the choir achieved increased worldwide visibility through several highly publicized performances.[ citation needed ] They performed at the Live 8 concert in London with Mariah Carey, and were featured on The Tonight Show and The Ellen DeGeneres Show .[ citation needed ] In 2006, they performed at an event for one.org and before the United Nations for its UNAIDS summit.[ citation needed ] In December 2006, they made a second appearance on The Tonight Show .[ citation needed ]
The choir has also recorded songs for the soundtracks of major motion pictures including Oprah Winfrey's Beloved , Hotel Rwanda and Blood Diamond .[ citation needed ]
The African Children's Choir currently has two choirs on tour in the United Kingdom and Canada.[ citation needed ] These choirs are composed of children from Uganda.
The choir sang during the Canadian Idol season 4 finale.[ citation needed ]
On 25 April 2007, they performed as part of American Idol's Idol Gives Back, singing "You Raise Me Up" with Josh Groban.[ citation needed ] They also performed on the finale of American Idol season 6 at the Kodak Theatre on 23 May 2007.[ citation needed ]
The African Children's choir was featured in broadcasts and podcasts celebrating 2007 World Party Day.[ citation needed ]
In 2007, the choir performed with the band Dispatch for three sold-out concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York.[ citation needed ] The African Children's Choir toured in Australia at the Queensland Youth Symphony at Queensland Music Festival.1999[ citation needed ]
The choir appears on Michael W. Smith's 2008 album A New Hallelujah , which was live recorded during a worship concert in Houston.[ citation needed ]
In 2008, the choir sang for former President George W. Bush and recorded with Michael W. Smith.[ citation needed ] On 29 September 2009, the choir celebrated their 25th Anniversary at the Hotel Vancouver in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, where the choir held their first performance 25 years before.[ citation needed ] Special guests at the event included Bob Geldof, who used to live in Vancouver, where he used to work for the Georgia Straight , Paul Rodgers and Michael McDonald.[ citation needed ]
Also in 2009, the choir performed for Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni at Commonwealth Day in London, England.[ citation needed ] Alicia Keys sang with the choir at Black Ball Gala.[ citation needed ]
The choir sang for US Global Leadership Coalition honoring former First Lady and Senator Hillary Clinton.[ citation needed ] The choir sang "All You Need is Love" for the Playing for Change Campaign.[ citation needed ]
In 2010, the choir was featured on A Christmas Cornucopia with Annie Lennox. [1]
The choir were part of the "Commonwealth Band" who performed with the Military Wives at the Diamond Jubilee Concert in 2012.[ citation needed ] The choir also performed with two other choirs from the United States and France singing "What a Wonderful World" for the Playing for Change campaign.[ citation needed ]
Other than the touring Choir, which is the primary fundraising and awareness program of the organization, Music for Life operate several programs in Africa:[ citation needed ]
The Music for Life program runs in 12 Centers, (10 in South Africa, 2 in Uganda), where they work with approximately 50 children in each center.[ citation needed ] These children have either been orphaned by AIDS, or have parents that can no longer care for and provide for them, or who are in the care of aged grandparents who are unable to effectively care for them.[ citation needed ] Music for Life Centers provides music, dance, life skills, as well as nutrition and education (many of the centers are actually based in schools).[ citation needed ]
These are schools that have been developed for African Children's Choir participants.[ citation needed ] The children in these schools have all been on tour and are selected for their musical ability, academic potential and have been orphaned and/or come from vulnerable situations.[ citation needed ] The schools build upon the experiences these children have had while on tour and continue to further develop these children's talents and abilities while providing the support of a family.[ citation needed ]
These schools are part of the Music for Life Program that assists children (who are not in the choir) and their communities.[ citation needed ] These schools have either been built by, or have been financially supported by sponsors.[ citation needed ] The first of these schools was the African Outreach Academy in Uganda, which served as a community support model in 1984 and was the original home of the African Children's Choir.[ citation needed ]
In Sudan, where the infrastructure was decimated by civil war, Music For Life is rebuilding the educational system by providing training for new teachers throughout the country.[ citation needed ]
12 Million Orphans is an educational campaign representing the over 12 million orphans in sub-Saharan Africa.[ citation needed ] The program lobbies and cares for some of these children, provides information on this vulnerable sector, and focuses the world's attention on their issues.[ citation needed ] The main program to reach these children is the Music for Life Centers.[ citation needed ]
Central Equatoria is a state in South Sudan. With an area of 43,033 square kilometres (16,615 sq mi), it is the smallest of the original South Sudanese states. Its previous name was Bahr al-Jabal, named after a tributary of the White Nile that flows through the state. It was renamed Central Equatoria in the first Interim Legislative Assembly on 1 April 2005 under the government of Southern Sudan. Central Equatoria seceded from Sudan as part of the Republic of South Sudan on 9 July 2011. The state's capital, Juba, is also the national capital of South Sudan. On October 2, 2015, the state was split into three states: Jubek, Terekeka, and Yei River. The state of Central Equatoria was re-established by a peace agreement signed on 22 February 2020.
The American Boychoir School was a boarding/day middle school located in Princeton, New Jersey, and the home of the American Boychoir. The school originated as the Columbus Boychoir in Columbus, Ohio. In 1950, the school relocated after receiving property in Princeton, New Jersey from the Lambert estate. The relocated school was renamed the American Boychoir School. It remained in this location until the sale of Albemarle in 2012. The school served boys in grades 4–8, many of whom came from across the United States and from many countries. It was one of only two boychoir boarding schools in the United States, the other being Saint Thomas Choir School in New York City. The school provided opportunity to boys from across the world to experience the rich world of music. The Boychoir toured across the contiguous United States, through Canada, as well as internationally, allowing students to gain diverse cultural perspective while performing at the professional level. The American Boychoir performed with numerous orchestras, frequently including the New York Philharmonic as well as the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra.
The Colorado Children's Chorale is a singing group in Colorado established in 1974, a result of the assembly by founder Duain Wolfe of a youth ensemble to perform in Central City Opera's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Mr. Wolfe recognized the opportunity to fulfill an ongoing need for a professionally trained children's choral resource and as such, the primary mission of the Chorale as a performing ensemble remains to this day.
Marguerite (Maggie) Barankitse is a Burundian humanitarian activist who works to improve the welfare of children and challenge ethnic discrimination in Burundi. After rescuing 25 children from a massacre, she was forced to witness the conflicts between the Hutu and Tutsi in her country in 1993. She established Maison Shalom, a shelter that provided access to healthcare, education, and culture to over 20,000 orphan children in need. Because she protested against a third term for President Pierre Nkurunziza, she lives in exile.
Alight, formerly the American Refugee Committee (ARC), is an international nonprofit, nonsectarian organization that has provided humanitarian assistance and training to millions of beneficiaries over the last 40 years.
The Watoto Children's Choir is a group of African children's choirs based in Kampala, Uganda, at Watoto Church. They tour internationally. Each choir is composed of about eighteen to twenty-two children from Uganda. Their tours raise money as well as awareness for the Watoto orphanages in Kampala.
The very high rate of human immunodeficiency virus infection experienced in Uganda during the 1980s and early 1990s created an urgent need for people to know their HIV status. The only option available to them was offered by the National Blood Transfusion Service, which carries out routine HIV tests on all the blood that is donated for transfusion purposes. The great need for testing and counseling resulted in a group of local non-governmental organizations such as The AIDS Support Organisation, Uganda Red Cross, Nsambya Home Care, the National Blood Bank, the Uganda Virus Research Institute together with the Ministry of Health establishing the AIDS Information Centre in 1990. This organization worked to provide HIV testing and counseling services with the knowledge and consent of the client involved.
The Don Bosco Foundation of Cambodia is a Non-profit organization of education founded in Cambodia in 1991 to give technical skill education to youth living in extreme poverty and to facilitate the schooling of marginalized children. The organization was a way to answer the needs of a country in its post-war period of reconstruction. DBFC is a branch of the Salesians of Don Bosco. The United Nations asked to the Salesians in Thailand to attend the children and youth of the Cambodian Refugee camps during the 1980s. DBFC answered this request by opening provisional technical schools in the camps. After the peace agreements, the organization was invited by the Cambodian government to settle in the country. The first printing press in Cambodia after the war, was provided by DBFC in the Don Bosco Technical School of Phnom Penh for the republishing, translating and writing of books and documents of education. Many schools were rebuilt in the villages and the Organization gained prestige as the first institution to provide technical education and to offer sponsorship to Cambodian children.
Every Child Ministries is a Christian charity and mission agency that works for African children. The charity is specially known for its advocacy on behalf of neglected, downtrodden, and marginalized groups of African children. It was first incorporated in the US in the state of Indiana in 1985, but is now incorporated and recognized as an NGO in all three of the African countries it ministers in.
The Total Experience Gospel Choir was a gospel music group based in Seattle, Washington, United States, founded in 1973 by Pastor Patrinell Staten "Pat" Wright, who led the group until its dissolution in 2018. They have sung in at least 38 states and 22 countries, have performed for United States presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, at the funeral of Jimi Hendrix in 1970, and made at least seven recordings of their own, as well as singing behind Barry Manilow at KeyArena in 2015, and on the song "Save Me" on Dave Matthews's CD Some Devil. They have appeared in television commercials and on the public radio program A Prairie Home Companion as well as numerous other radio programs.
Blessing the Children International (BCI) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, founded in 2001, that engages in Christian missionary work in Ethiopia, Africa. According to the Urban Institute, BCI is classified as an "International Relief" organization.
Musicians Without Borders (MWB) is an umbrella organization working with local organizations and musicians to bring social change and peaceful, liveable conditions to their own communities. It was founded in 1999 by Laura Hassler, an American peace activist and musician. From their projects and programs, MWB has developed its training program, sharing skills and knowledge with musicians around the world, in support of their continuing work in their local communities.
Irene Gleeson was a Christian missionary to the children of Kitgum District, northern Uganda, whose lives were disrupted first by war then by HIV/AIDS. She was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2009 for "service to international relations, particularly through sustained aid for children affected by war and HIV-AIDS in Northern Uganda"
Thomas Muyombo, also known as Tom Close, is a Ugandan-born, Rwandan-based musician, and physician. A ChimpReports reviewer in 2013 described him as "the king of Afrobeat and dancehall" in Rwanda.
Kepler is a nonprofit higher education program that operates a university campus in Kigali, Rwanda. It is one of the first programs worldwide to integrate massive open online courses (MOOCs), flip teaching, and other education technology practices into a blended learning curriculum, with the goal of lowering the cost of higher education without a reduction in academic quality or outcomes. All graduates of the program receive an accredited U.S. degree through the competency-based College for America at Southern New Hampshire University.
Herman Basudde (1958–1997) was a Ugandan Kadongo Kamu musician. He was born in Masaka District, Uganda.
Started in 1994, Watoto Child Care Ministries is a branch of the Watoto Church in Uganda that builds villages with schools, churches, medical centers, and homes and populates them with new families built from orphans and widows. Currently there are three villages: Bbira and Suubi near Kampala and Laminadera outside Gulu. Other projects being undertaken by Watoto Child Care Ministries include baby homes, vocational training, and farms to support the villages. Watoto Child Care Ministries is also the organization that runs the Watoto Children's Choir which tours internationally every year. Watoto aims to "raise the next generation of African leaders".
Ashinaga is a non-profit organization headquartered in Tokyo, Japan that provides educational funding and psychological support to children who have lost one or both guardians, as well as to those whose guardians suffer from serious disabilities. Since its founding in 1993, the organization has raised an estimated $1 billion and has helped over 95,000 students complete high school and/or attend university. Ashinaga also provides residential facilities, psychological support, day programs and camps for both younger children and Ashinaga student loan recipients.
Yei River State was a state in South Sudan that existed from 2 October 2015 to 22 February 2020, when it became a part of the state of Central Equatoria.
Kajo Keji County is an administrative area in Central Equatoria, South Sudan.